Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $14.60 and last traded at $14.59, with a volume of 21439 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.11 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.40.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.